January 15, 2009

WINTERHAVEN HOMELESS SHELTER @ NEW HOPE

God showed up marvelously in the past week in the New Hope Community- in more than 150 ways! More than 150 members volunteered their time to be Jesus to the 30 homeless men at New Hope through it’s Winterhaven Homeless Ministry. The primary objective of Winterhaven is based on the Isaiah 58:7 passage: “provide shelter to the poor and homeless and feed them”.

New Hope volunteers spent close to 200 hours in fellowship, serving and sharing meals, watching movies and playing board games with the appreciative guests. Volunteers also took time to converse with many who were eager to share their life experiences and talk about current events, do their laundry and provide transport. On Sunday, January 11, the sun would set on this year’s Winterhaven Homeless Ministry at New Hope Church. The following words, however, to God’s pleasure would forever reverberate through the hallways of New Hope’s campus:“Thank you for that delicious meal”“Thank you for the blanket”“Thank you for providing a place to stay”“Thank you for listening”“Thank you for praying with me”

We're sure God was pleased by the work done at New Hope and until we can figure out a way to end homelessness and poverty in our community, let us continue to be His hands and feet to the less fortunate through our ‘Sharing our Pantry’ Ministry and other initiatives. A moment must be taken to thank all of our grace-filled volunteers. Large and small, their acts of kindness wrought upon our guests and church community rich blessings. Thank you, thank you, thank you.“Because they were hungry, you gave them something to eat. They were thirsty, and you gave them something to drink. They were strangers, and you welcomed them.” Matthew 25:35 (paraphrased)Article submitted by A. Colin Jeffers, Winterhaven co-coordinator with Paulette Baldwin